The Middle of Nowhere
by Fugazzi
Summary: Bella opens her home to a man in danger and by doing so opens the laces of her heart and invites in the only man who could be what she needs. Feminists will hate this story. ExB OOC AH Domineering, in control, and larger than life Edward.
1. Chapter 1

Edward

The world spun heavily as Emmett grabbed me and tossed me inside the SUV that had come screeching to halt in front of us. I landed on my stomach, the breath whooshing out of me as I felt him stumble in behind me. I lifted myself up quickly and slid to the floor of the backseat, tucking my head down below the tinted windows as more shots rang out around us. Emmett crouched awkwardly behind the driver seat, his handgun gripped tightly in his fist as his head swiveled back and forth

"Go, go, go!" Emmett's voice sounded strange as he yelled to the driver. Probably because he never raised it above a soft murmur. His suit was skewed and he looked frantic but also angry, very angry.

"The fuck just happened back there? They came out of nowhere!"

I took in a breath and calmed myself. No one ever got anywhere being hysterical.

"Call the police. We need to go somewhere safe, are you hurt?"

My voice was impressively calm even to my own ears. I understood more than he did about what was happening here.

"We're headed downtown right now. Paul called 911 after the first shots rang out."

"Do you know if anyone was hurt?"

Emmett's grim face was all I registered before another explosion erupted somewhere to the right of our vehicle.

Sirens were getting louder; cars around us were slowing down and pulling off to the shoulder.

"ETA is five minutes."

"This is the last straw you realize this right? You can't keep acting like nothing is wrong. We need to go to Plan B. We need to hide you."

Hiding felt like declaring defeat. My departure from the company and from the known world was exactly what he wanted. I couldn't let him win.

"Don't start shaking your head at me. It's time to call it what it is Edward."

I could count on three fingers the times Emmett has called me by my first name.

"We're here. I'll take cover point." Frank practically ejected himself from the driver's seat.

My jaw flexed as I looked at the mass of cars and police officers swarm the vehicle.

I hated to admit it but he was right. I was going to have to find a place to wait this out. There was nothing else I could do at this point.


	2. Chapter 2

Edward

"This is the best option we've come up with. You can still function in society and you can still be in control of your everyday life. If this doesn't end up working then we'll move on to other options."

"I'll still be able to make decisions regarding my company?"

The Marshal looked uneasy and glanced down at the stack of forms and folders beneath his broad forearms. His unhappiness was palpable.

"We'd be more comfortable if you ceased all communications with the company however in this instance we've made exceptions. This doesn't mean you'll be making daily conference calls or anything like that but once every two weeks you'll get updates on your company's status and you'll be able to communicate through a secure server when one of our other Marshals comes to relay the information. One person of your choosing will be your contact. The Marshal will sit through the meetings and observe all communications you have with your past life."

I didn't like the way he said 'past life', as far as I was concerned, it was my only life.

"You are aware that this will cost me hundreds of thousands of dollars correct? That my clients will want to see me in person on occasion to talk about their business?"

"Well Mr. Cullen this is completely you're choice. You came to us for help remember? But let me just tell you, I'd pay someone hundreds of thousands of dollars just to stay alive. This was the fourth attempt on your life. If you do not believe in the measures we've come up with then by all means, feel free to leave."

At this point Emmett had laid a hand on my shoulder. I detested any sort of physical contact with anyone but I knew what his message was. I smiled to the best of my ability and picked up the cheap black pen beside the stack of papers in front of me.

Then I signed my life away.


	3. Chapter 3

Isabella

The apartment smelled like Mop and Glow. I sighed as the thunder rolled around the building, the wind blowing in the smell of rain and earth.

There wasn't much I could do with the place. It had been vacant for over three years. I never had the heart to rent it out. There was something sacred about these walls and even after all this time the feeling still lingered. It was the last place I ever saw him. The last tie I had.

Of course it wasn't really. I had other things to remind me. Other things to hold and touch that made me think of him every day but still. This place, this spot was his, if only for a little while, and that made it special.

"Miss Bella?"

Turning I looked at the little boy standing in the doorway.

"You're Andrew right?" I asked gently.

He nodded and peeked around inside the dwelling. His hair was damp and he looked nervous, lingering in the hallway, not wanting to intrude.

"My mom said that I should thank you for the cobbler. She'd do it herself but my sister is crying and mom's trying to get her to sleep and I was supposed to come tell you a while ago but I wanted to go to the river and look and see if I could find a arrow head like you said but I didn't find one…"

It took him almost a whole three minutes to get out the thank you but finally he stopped rambling and I smiled at his pink face.

"Well you tell your mom I said she's welcome and I don't mind a bit. Has your father caught any big ones lately?"

"Nah, he said the ones he catches are tiny but I got to go yesterday and we caught this pretty one that looked like a rainbow, Dad said that's why they're called rainbow trout cause of their colors. He says the brook's are prettier though but he hasn't seen one yet."

I laughed and nodded at him.

"Well it's getting late you should go find your mom before she get's worried."

He nodded and hesitated before turning and running up the stairwell.

I took a deep breath and reminded myself that everything was okay for the tenth time before gathering my cleaning supplies.

The furnishings were sparse and the apartment a little bare but the fridge was now stocked with basics, the wood polished, and every surfaced gleamed. After a day of mopping, scrubbing, and dusting my body was protesting.

One more glance around and I shrugged my shoulders before exiting the apartment, leaving the windows open so the fresh air would cleanse the place of its musty atmosphere.

If only it would cleanse my memories as well.


	4. Chapter 4

Edward

"Remind me once more why we couldn't just get a private charter?"

Emmett sat beside me on the plane we'd just boarded not five minutes ago. His massive form barely folding into the tiny space between the seats.

"And flying coach?" I was disgusted.

"Well let's see? There's the fact that we were on a time crunch and these were the last tickets to Washington available until tomorrow, that you're being flown to a very remote place after this flight, oh and how about the people who want you dead will be looking for a private jet flying to the middle of nowhere?"

My fingers gripped down on the cheap metal armrests and I took a deep breath. Even if I really wanted to fire Emmett I knew I couldn't bring myself to do it over this.

"Do you know anything about where we're going?"

He hummed a low negative and I licked my lips as one of the flight attendants walked past carrying a bottle of champagne to first class.

Just as I was beginning to think that coach might not be so bad the very large man in front of us shifted and sent a smell found in sewers toward us and a baby began to cry.

Firing Emmett might make me feel a little better after all.


	5. Chapter 5

Edward

The plane landed on time and for a moment, standing in the crowded airport made me feel nervous. The feeling was strange, not because I had never felt nervous before, but because I hadn't felt nervous in so _long._ For the first time since this had all started I felt open and exposed.

I had never had anything to fear before. In my line of work, I learned that the only way for a man to be intimidated, used, and pushed around was the have things that were important.

Family, friends, loved ones were the number one thing that weighed someone down. I had none of those things. The closest thing to a friend I had was Emmett and truth be told I wouldn't know how to feel if he died. I would be sad of course but if push came to shove I wasn't sure how I would act. It also helped to know that Emmett was a smart man who was trained to avoid situations like that. He understood his place.

I didn't have anything to lose and dying never really occurred to me. If I died I really wouldn't have anything to worry about. I'd be dead. The simplicity of that thought kept running through my mind. As we collected our baggage. As the local US Marshal ushered us into his dark green suburban and even as he prattled on about the place I was going.

"She hasn't had to house anyone yet. This is her first time so things might get a little bumpy but I'm sure everything will be fine. She lives in Forks, it's a nice little place that's pretty much off the map. You'll be in for quite a drive if you want to reach another town. It's remote and isolated but they have a top notch police department and there shouldn't be any trouble. I grew up there so I'm really familiar with the layout-"

"What is this woman's name again?" I hadn't been paying attention, much to wrapped up in my thoughts and all the green outside my window.

"Miss Isabella. Isabella Swan. She lives just outside town." The Marshal seemed annoyed that I had asked, understanding that I hadn't been listening. It was a good thing Emmett was hanging on his every word.

He sprang into another long speech about the local happenings and the places of interest. It wasn't a long speech. I felt the irritation beginning to fester inside me. I hated this. I hated this place and I hated these people. I wanted to go home to my work and my _life._ This was spinning out of control and I detested not being in control.

I wanted my housekeeper and chauffer. I wanted my meals at five star restaurants and the choice to just stay at a hotel for the weekend because I felt like it. Not only was I stranded in the middle of nowhere with no chance of contact outside this place I was going I was cut off from my bank accounts. Of course a million dollars had been wired to a secure account and I had access to that but hell I blew through that much in two months. The reasonable side of my brain told me I'd never find _anything_ in this Forks place that would cost over a hundred dollars and the lack of internet was going to make buying anything online impossible. I wasn't even allowed the luxury of a car. I would be dependent on this Miss Isabella for transportation.

Miss Isabella. She sounded like a woman in her 80's who never married and lived with fifty cats. She probably drove a car that was made in the 60's and only drove it to church on Sundays.

My teeth clenched even tighter in my mouth. The rain patted softly on the roof of the car and I licked my teeth as I stewed in silence. Marshal Waylon was getting on my last fucking nerve. Emmett's devoted interest in everything he had to say was grating on my resolve. I was two shakes away from demanding they turn this fucking car around and take us back to SEATAC. We stopped at a red light and I leaned forward to get Emmett's attention when I heard the loud bang.

Instinctively I ducked down and peered out the windows. Emmett turned in his seat to glance at me with a bemused look on his face.

"The car across the street just backfired. No worries Boss Man we're safe."

I almost hissed I was so annoyed. Yet despite the smug smile on his face and how angry it made me the incidence only reminded me of how serious my situation was. How close I had been to being killed and how much closer yet I could get. I had nothing to lose. I was a free agent and the fact that my parents were already dead left no spot for ropes to tie me down.

But if I had nothing someone else could use against me as leverage…what would they do instead?

"We're here."


	6. Chapter 6

Edward

The driveway was half a mile long and there was hardly a lane to drive on. The trees hung low and scraped along the top of the SUV before we made it to the building.

Emmett and I exited the car, the fresh air seemed to make my skin tingle. I shed my jacket and rolled the sleeves of my button down up. My slacks were wrinkled and I could feel the narrow leather belt where it had bitten into my skin from sitting so long. I sucked in a deep breath and looked around as I loosened my tie.

The place was a paradox. A red brick monstrosity, three stories tall and housing at least twelve apartments. It looked imposing, as if in a previous life it was a strict business man and was reborn into a sweet old lady. Hanging from windows and balconies were pots of flowers, some bright and cheery others clustered together on vines that crept around the side of the house.

No shutters, only windows with white frames.

The roof was a dull silvery tin, streaks of moss and grime prevented it to shine completely.

The main doorway boasted two large wooden doors, detailed with crown molding, a beveled center, and painted a glassy black. Above the doors was a large wooden plaque bearing a white swan. Its neck gracefully arched back and the wings spread wide laid on a black background.

To the side of the building was a four spot carport and a small shanty of wood that looked to be a shed.

"Well, this is it. From what Miss Bella says business is busy right now. It's fishin' season and people come from all over to fish the river and the streams. It's quiet out here. Not a bad distance from the main waterways. Sappho and Beaver fill up pretty quick on a count of Lake Pleasant but it's crowded and not many people come fishin' up here to meet other folks, it's the quiet they're after. Well, I'll go track down Miss Bella and see where she's put you. I know the local Marshal's been out to inspect the space and all. I'm sure he'll be here soon if he's not already."

I nodded curtly and Emmett smiled as he took in his surroundings. Who the fuck cares about fishing?

"Kinda reminds me of home."

I snorted and bit back a sneer. Emmett of course would feel just fine here in the middle of fucking nowhere. A Tennessee backwoods boy who could probably kill a bear with a fucking rock.

"You Edward Cullen?"

I turned and regarded the man standing about ten feet from me. He was tall, almost as tall as me; stocky. I regarded him for a moment and he smiled lazily.

"Jacob Black. I'm the attending Marshal on your case. I'll be the one who brings you you're company contact info and monitors your calls."

I reached out and shook his hand, giving him a blank stare and waiting until he finished greeting Emmett. He looked like a college kid not the person responsible for my safety.

This was quickly turning into a huge joke. Any second now a film crew was going to pop out and say 'surprise!'

Marshal Waylon was an idiot. Marshal Black was a child and my own security detail was more concerned with getting back to nature than actually protecting me.

There was no one here who had one fucking idea of what they were doing. I stood facing the back of the property with my hands on my hips. A breeze drifted against me and I smelled flowers. I left Emmett chatting happily with Black and walked behind the house. My mouth parted and I looked across the backyard. It was glorious. Flowers bloomed in brazen colors. A shallow walkway lined with gravel wound through the foliage. I could hear a stream or brook bubbling in the distance, it was close, very close.

"Hi, I'm Bella, can I help you?"

She couldn't have been over 25.


	7. Chapter 7

Bella

My hands were sufficiently caked in mud.

I stood up and grabbed the rag beside the tin bucket that was now thankfully empty of bulbs. I managed to get most of the dirt off but I still had a dark brown tint up to my wrists.

Sighing, I tucked the rag into the front pocket of my jean overalls. I looked down and rolled my eyes before rolling up the hem on my right leg. They belonged to Charlie once upon a time. I still remembered being fifteen and having to roll the pant legs up to just below the knee to get them to fit.

The white tank I wore underneath was damp and when the breeze blew by I felt my slick skin tingle.

When I looked up there was a man standing by the corner of the house. His back was to me and I immediately knew he wasn't from around here nor was he here to fish or hunt. He must be Mr. Cullen.

I walked over to him, my sneakers silent as I stepped over the soft dirt.

"Hi, I'm Bella, can I help you?"

He turned quickly, his eyes widening and I almost blanched when I saw his face.

Dear God he was handsome. In his late twenties or early thirties. He had an air about him that spoke of control. His face, while beautiful, was severe. He looked at me with a blank expression but he couldn't control his eyes. They were surprised. The olive green irises were almost glassy but still bright. He extended his hand and I looked at it for a moment before I gripped it with my own.

"I'm Edward Cullen, or I guess Masen now."

I grinned at him and he looked down at his hand which now had a film of dirt on it.

"Oh, I'm so sorry I was just planting some bulbs and I-"

He looked at his hand oddly for a moment before clenching his jaw and reaching into his pocket for a…a handkerchief.

Never in all my life had I ever seen a man carry a handkerchief. A bandana, a rag, but never a perfectly white and square piece of clothe …and it had an anagram. Oh dear Lord.

He wiped his hand and I watched in fascination. The more he rubbed the dirtier that pristine white became and when he was done he looked over and threw it in the open hefty bag that had trimmings in it. He threw it away; he threw away a silky, anagrammed handkerchief.

That thing must have cost him at least forty dollars and he just threw it away.

"It's quite alright. I apologize for disturbing you. I believe Marshal Waylon is looking for you."

I looked around and rolled my eyes. Marshal Waylon was probably in my kitchen right now going through the fridge and looking for a cold one. I smiled at him and motioned for us to walk toward the front of the apartments.

"You must be exhausted. Let me show you to your apartment."

He nodded and followed me. I was introduced to his body guard Emmett McCarty and I saw Jake digging in his truck for something. My body stiffened when I realized he was here. Of course he was going to be here. He was a Marshal now. It's what he did.

I walked slowly, waiting for Mr. Cul-, Mr. Masen to follow me up the small flight of stairs to the first floor. I hadn't been expecting him to bring someone along. I was under the impression he was alone. They would have to share the apartment until Mr. Hogan left. He was set to leave on Friday, four days left of his rental. He was the only single man who rented out my apartments and he always struck me as a very sad man. From what little he's said to me and the other guests I had gathered that he'd lost his son many years ago.

"I didn't know you'd be bringing Mr. McCarty-"

"Actually lets just drop the sir names shall we? Just call me Em."

I laughed and nodded at him then glanced at Mr. Masen."

"You don't strike me as the type of man who enjoys being called Eddie." I teased.

He glared at me and nodded tightly.

"You would be correct Miss Swan."

I suddenly felt like a scolded child and dropped my eyes. I opened the door and waited until they were inside.

It was strange seeing people in this place again. I felt my blood running cold and my hands become clammy.

This was wrong. This was so wrong. But this was how I was going to let go. It would still be our place. It would still be our apartments. I didn't need the place anymore. I couldn't make a shrine to him and I couldn't kick out another renter because I had to make room. No reason a perfectly good place had to go to waste.

"As I was saying, I didn't know you were bringing anyone so I just have this one place available. When Mr. Hogan leaves on Friday you can move to his room. It's right above this unit."

They nodded as they sized the place up.

"Well the grand tour is going to be somewhat short I'm afraid. It's not a penthouse but it's cozy. The kitchen and dining area are open to each other and we're… standing in the living room. Down the hall is a bedroom and office area and the bathroom is right between them. There's a small futon in the office and it folds out, so does this sofa in here. It's a sleeper. I know it's not much but I've cleaned the place from top to bottom and stocked the fridge. There are towels in the bathroom and sheets in the hall closet. Plenty of space in the bedroom closets. The bed is made up and there are dishes and plates and just about anything you'd need. If there's something you _do_ need then just let me know. I'm right across the hall."

By this point I was ringing my hands and shifting. I was extremely uncomfortable with them being in here. There were too many people, too many people in the middle of too many memories.

"I uh, I make breakfast every Sunday morning for everyone and we eat in the rec room which is through the third door in the hallway, right between your door and mine. The TV in here gets the local channels but nothing else, I'm sorry about that but it's got a DVD player and I've got some movies you can borrow…"

"How often will we be able to go to town?" Mr. Masen's icy voice broke through my rambling.

"Um, I go once a week to get groceries and whatever else the place needs. You can come with me."

He nodded and I could see he was not pleased with the place. I was filled for a moment with irrational anger. How dare he look down on this place, how dare he-

But then again, he _was_ ripped from his life because of something that wasn't his fault. I didn't know the details but anyone in witness protection did choose to be there. He was probably just in shock from the change. He was obviously used to nicer arrangements and this place wasn't the Hilton.

"Um, well I'll let you get settled and all that."

I bolted from the room before I could snatch the keys back from Waylon and demand they leave. This was what he wanted. This was how it was supposed to work. I was doing this for him. I was carrying on his legacy.

I shut the door to my apartment behind me and slid to the floor, silent tears tracking down my face.


End file.
